stoutner

My check is "in the mail" as they say. You should get it this week.

As long as it works for you, that is the right thing to do. Using the sonar to figure out how deep your riggers are running does not work though. Your sonar measures a straight line from your transducer to your ball. If your ball is "out" 100 feet and it is blowing back at a 30 degree angle, your actual depth would be about 85 feet. Your sonar would still show it at 100 feet because it is 100 feet from your transducer to your ball. If you are running a 10 or 12 lb ball you might be blowing back at about a 45 degrees angle if you are running about 2.7 mph. At 100 "out" and a 45 degree angle your ball will be about 70 feet down. Your sonar will still show it at 100 feet deep if it is still picking it up.

Looking forward to it! My buddy had this A-Tom-Mik Invitational newspaper article matted and framed for me. Came out great! Here is a pic of that 32.5 lb fish

I have an X4D and cannot believe how much blowback you get when running down riggers. I also noticed that running about 2.1 mph vs 2.6 mph makes a HUGE difference in how high and back my riggers are running. At 2.6 or 2.7 with a 12 lb torpedo or shark weight you need to subtract 20% - 25% off what your downrigger counter says you are running. If you want to be down to actual depth of 100 feet you really need to let your riggers down to about 125 feet. The deeper you want to go the more blowback. If you want 125 feet, you might have to go down about 175 feet...especially if running a flasher and fly combo. If you want to go 130 feet down at 2.7. mph you almost need to have a 15+ Lb downrigger weight. After seeing how bad it was, I now run a 20 LB shark on my rigger with the probe and 16 Lb Torpedos on my other riggers.I don't have to compensate much at all anymore and can go really deep if I need to. If you are trolling for Lakers and are 2.1 mph or under, 10 or 12 lb weights will do the trick but those cowbells have the same effect on reducing the depth. As long as you run them like 1.5 - 2.0 you would probably be o.k.

Hey!!!! Stop trying to use logic and common sense. That has no place when it comes to making tournament rules.

I also thought I would post a few pics from 2013. A friend at our Marina had this Oswego Newspaper article framed professionally for us . . . . . . . Apicture of that beast with Team mate Barry Turner who happens to be the guy who landed it . . . . . . My wife is a sucker for trophys and plaques . . . . . . Here she is with her first Lamprey caught that weekend . . . . . . Cant wait for next year!

Actually farm raised salmon is still raised in the ocean. In big fish pens. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Ellie said it was the best guacamole she has ever had. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Don't know if I can do the ghost pepper jam after drinking those martinis last night Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

What is the wave report? Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

One of the reasons that Rick is a good Charter Captain is because he actually enjoys fishing AND it is not his primary source of income. You will catch Rick fishing on his boat, in the river, and on the ice. It is much harder to enjoy it when you are depending on the income to feed your family. Many full time guys do it and do it well while enjoying it. Others are just burned out and it is a job to them.

They are a lot easier to catch in the river. I have become pretty good at flossing them in the river too Last year when I was fishing the staircase I could see 50-100 fish sitting in the river right in front of me. With the proper setup and drift, I was able to floss at least one every 10 or 15 minutes For the lake guys that don't know what "flossing them" is....it is basically sliding your leader line through their mouth and having the hook snag on the inside of the mouth as it is passing through. They will bite in the river but way more are flossed than actually bite. That is why guys with good technique catch way more fish than guys that don't have good technique.